Evil
by TheColorsofSand
Summary: Sequel to 'Malevolence'. A few weeks after the battle on the football field, Danny is starting to accept his new role and new visage. But life is never easy, not even life after life, and the Phantom id still keeping a few secrets- even from himself.
1. The Music is in Me

Evil

Chapter 1: The Music is in Me

" _The Phantom_." The voice of the Council head boomed throughout the Council Room. Its single eye stared him down. The eyes of the entire Observant's Council glared down at him, as he stood in the center of the Council Room, far below the judgement of the high-seated council. Behind him, seven of the Ancients blocked the door, six hovered just beneath the Council head.

A normal ghost would have been intimidated- scared shitless in many cases. But Phantom was not a normal ghost. What struck him wasn't the intimidation technique, but the name they had used. Arrested for the first time, they had used his name 'Daniel James Fenton'. But now they used his _real_ name- the one he earned only a few weeks ago. It was just a little odd that they had thought to use the 'the' part of 'The Phantom'. He wasn't sure if they really expected him to say anything, but he felt his long stare back was answer enough. He wasn't intimidated- he knew as well as they did that in an all-out brawl against the ancients, he probably wouldn't win. But in a fight like that there wouldn't really be any winners at all. Not so long ago the Observants were a little frightening, but now the fear had faded away.

"Do you know why you have been brought before us?"

"I have a pretty good idea." Phantom responded without hesitation. The mechanical double-echo of his voice had faded to a slight edge. The glare of the council intensified, but he bore it and met the glare of the council head directly.

"We are here to determine whether you shall face charges of…"

"Existing?" The pressure in the room intensified, but he was not cowed.

"The council has convened to discuss your rather serious transgressions."

"We both know why I'm here- why don't we just cut to the chase?" A few voices murmured from all around the council seating. They were not exactly kind murmurs. "You're afraid of me." Phantom said boldly, the mechanical undertones of his voice grating. The stunned and angered looks in the single eyes of each Observant told him he'd hit the nail on the head. Interference in the land of the living was, at times, a serious offense. But he had proven his right to pass between the worlds.

The ancient ghosts tensed, readying themselves. As one, the entirety of the Observant's council stood, hovering high above him. They were silent suddenly, their collective consciousness snapping into place at his veiled threat.

But The Phantom knew what to do. It wasn't something that he wanted, but his mentor and friend Clockwork knew best. The claiming of his territory turned heads and drew eyes, and his battle with his alternate self heralded a new age. The dead and the never-born could no longer hide from the living. It hadn't been his intention, but Clockwork claimed everything had happened as it was supposed to happen. So the next step was necessary.

"I submit to the authority of the council." He bowed low to the council head, and for a few moments all was visibly tense.

Clockwork had submitted to the rule of the council when it was formed. It was a show of faith to the rest of the ghost zone. Pariah Dark did not. Clockwork knew better than anyone just how much the council feared another Pariah Dark, and saw the potential in Phantom.

"Y… you submit?" Phantom pulled himself up to his full height, and nodded briefly.

"I do." The council all looked around at each other, at a complete loss for words. Clockwork submitted only after days of debate. Pariah Dark almost destroyed the building. Most ghosts summoned before the council needed either cajoling, or at times, imprisonment before submitting; or needed to be picked up off the floor. Phantom managed to floor the council instead.

"Well, good." The council head said, stuttering a little. The rest of the Observants sat back down awkwardly. "As for the charges…" Phantom fixed him with a glare, and even the confused ancients seemed to shrivel just a little. "You have, I suppose a right to interfere among the living." He cleared his throat, and returned to his seat. The looks shooting across the room made him think that they suddenly no longer had anything to talk about.

"Now as for the conditions under which I submit…"

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He was going to be late. Which was saying something considering that he was able to teleport, and open portals. But all that didn't matter when he woke not ten minutes before he was supposed to be on campus. Jazz was just going to have to live with it, she should be used to it by now anyway. He had enough time to dress himself, brush his teeth, and teleport across two states to get to his sister's school. The problem was the simple fact that in order to teleport somewhere, he had to know where it was. Tracing Jazz and popping up wherever she happened to be was a bad idea. He learned that the hard and embarrassing way. So he would have to do it the old fashioned way- by walking.

Graduation just couldn't come soon enough, and then before he knew it, it was over. It was with a mix of dread and excitement that he realized he had no idea what he was going to do next. His childhood dreams had fallen by the wayside, but not unhappily. He had already done what he had dreamed about doing, and the experience jolted him into an entirely different way of thinking. His wasn't going to be the normal path. Anything he wanted to do from now on was going to have that little kink. He more or less was learning quickly how his existence as a ghost was going to go. But finding out how he was going to _live_ \- that was another can of worms all together.

The campus in late spring was quite pleasant. The trees shaded the brick walkways, and the college students milled among the old stone buildings, some with modern window faces, and others marble entryways. A tour group passed him by as he studied a map under glass in front of the library. He had four minutes to find the building and the classroom. According to the map, he was on the wrong side of the campus.

"What are you looking for?" The small voice came from his right, a short blonde boy, no more than ten years old. Large earphones hung around his neck, and he wore thick glasses.

"Showalter Hall." Danny said. The boy started down the brick walkway and motioned for Danny to follow.

"I'm going there too, I'll show you where it is." Danny followed his short guide obediently. It would have been faster to find it on the map and fly there, but he didn't need to draw any attention himself. The fallout after his rather public battle had been sizable. Hence his visit to his sister's school. She sold him out to her professor, who leapt at the chance to be the first to wrangle him into a classroom. Danny wasn't sure if they expected him to lecture, or not struggle when strapped to a lab table.

"What are you listening to?" Danny asked to fill the silence. The boy fiddled with his playlist, but never put his headphones on. He shrugged at the question.

"Disturbed. My dad put a whole bunch of crap on here for me, so I have to go through it all to find what I want." Danny chuckled.

"My dad doesn't even know how to put music on one of those things. Is it really bad, or just not what you usually like?" The boy shrugged again. Danny's developing senses could feel the emotion coming off the boy. A lingering sadness seemed to be a constant undertone.

"I guess it's not bad. It's just that I have to hear my dad play them a million times a day and then talk all about their 'symbolism' and crap. You just kind of get tired of it. It's only been like a month, and it feels like years."

"He teaches here?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah. I couldn't wait in his office anymore- so I thought I'd come listen to the class for a while. It's kinda cool sometimes- just not when you have to hear about it all day."

"I think I know what you're talking about." Danny deadpanned. Every young teenager thought their parents were loud and irritating- even when they weren't. Danny's sensitive hearing picked up a few familiar notes, and the dormant voices of the collection started stirring just a little. The boy sighed and switched the song again.

Mary Annette knew the song pretty well- seeing as how it was hers. Danny started to feel for the kid even more, he wasn't going to get it any easier after his visit today.

"Your dad must be professor Ewing." Danny said. They turned a corner towards as large brick building, ornate marble stairs and antique looking stone molding around the roof.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" The boy put the music player back in his pocket with another sigh.

"I could hear your headphones. Seems like that would be something he'd listen to. I'm actually headed to his class now. I think I'm going to be a little late again."

"So you like that kind of stuff huh?" The boy actually sounded a little disappointed. "It's pretty cool, I guess. It's just… sad. My dad doesn't seem to get it, but all these songs are just… sad."

"You're a pretty perceptive kid. I'm Danny, by the way."

"Trevor." The two awkwardly shook hands as they walked along the sidewalk. "Are you in my Dad's class?"

"My sister is. I was just going to see her." Trevor eyed him for a minute, and then sighed.

"Yeah I heard there would be a few extras today. I hope there will be a seat left for me." The news wasn't so comforting. A class full of students obsessed with ghosts was okay. But a huge crowd might be more than he'd intended to sign up for.

"Yeah. Hopefully." Danny said. He'd had his fill of talking to crowds. As phantom, it was easier- people learned to listen to Phantom, and ghosts knew to pay attention to ghosts more powerful than they. But college students listening to a stupid teenager; that was an entirely different matter.

"This is the building." Trevor said, pointing to their right. The old hall, all brick, and marble, and ivy, still had the old ironwork fire escapes on the back side, on the front side a grand staircase and walkway beneath the school's picturesque archway. A sign overgrown with rosebushes and Virginia creeper proclaimed its name. "My Dad's class is in the auditorium on the first floor."

"The auditorium?"

Trevor led him through the building and down a short flight of stairs to a pair of doors. Jazz was waiting just outside, smiling widely when she saw him. He hugged her immediately, and she had to stand on her toes to reach him.

"Sorry I'm late." He said.

"You're not, actually. My class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes. I just knew you would be late, so I gave you the wrong time." Danny rolled his eyes.

"Of course you did."

"You're not allowed to complain if it actually works Danny. Who's this?" Trevor, back at his player again, glanced up at her and tried to hide his blush. That sadness Danny had felt when he met him had kicked up just a little to fear. He was shy.

"This is Trevor, your professor's son. He made sure I found where I was going. This is my sister, Jazz." Trevor glanced again.

"Hey." He said very quietly. Jazz gave her brother a look, who shrugged back at her. He had a thing for kids, especially the shy ones. Jazz opened the door for them and took them inside.

"I think you may have tricked me into something." He said as they turned down the narrow hall and into the auditorium.

"Well, some of the students were pretty interested, and I figured you wouldn't mind if we opened it up to those that couldn't take the class. Besides, you owe me after almost getting yourself killed." He couldn't really argue with that. His whole family was still getting used to the idea, and the stress of the ordeal hadn't really faded yet. He had a lot of classroom visits, new wiring, and clean dishes to get through before they forgave him for being dumb. He didn't even want to think about all of the things he'd have to do for Valerie.

Trevor was looking up at him with suspicion, and as he went to sit down in the front row, and Danny climbed the three steps to the hollow carpeted platform with his sister, he had started to understand. He blushed furiously and tried to make himself small in the seat closest to the door, which was not hard considering the much larger college students milling all around the room. Still a good ten minutes before the class started the wide, long rows were filling up fast, and Danny stared a little.

"I think this is more than a few extras Jazz."

"The turnout is pretty impressive." She said with a smile. "Listen, just tell them the story, go over the video and play some of the music. That's all Dr. Ewing has been after since this quarter started and that whole stunt of the football field happened. And I promised his that he could record it for his other classes."

"Jazz…" He sighed.

"What? You're used to it by now anyway. Did you have to wear the jacket?" She tugged at the dingy yellow jacket that now he wore almost always.

"It shows up when I teleport; I just got used to it." It creeped Jazz out a little; the jacket that was also a part of his ghost form. She was fine with it at first, until she found out it could move on its own and appear and disappear at will.

"You must be Mr. Fenton." A voice said. A smaller man, blonde, beginning to bald, with poor posture trotted over from the camera tripod at the opposite door. Jazz smiled wide and pulled Danny over. In the corner Trevor was trying to look inconspicuous.

"Dr. Ewing, this is my brother Danny. Danny, this is my professor." The man grasped Danny's hand firmly.

"It's really wonderful to meet you, I am so glad that you could come in for us today. Jazz has told us so much." With his wide smile and round glasses he reminded Danny of a large dog who'd just made a new friend. He continued to babble just a little, and seemed determined not to let go of his hand. Apparently Dr. Ewing was a rabid 'phan'.

"No problem. I owed Jazz one anyway."

"I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the room."

"Actually, your son brought me here. I was afraid I was going to be late again." The professor shot a look to his son, a mix of pride and disappointment. Danny got the feeling that Trevor was probably supposed to stay in the office. The boy looked away and pretended he hadn't noticed the look.

"I'm glad he was helpful." He said. "I can get the computer set up for you, if you plan to use it."

"That would be great. I brought some of the music- Jazz was telling me you were interested in it." From behind her professor, Jazz gave him a thumbs up. If all went well his sister would get an 'A', make a good impression on the whole department, and he would get a free pass on his next debacle.

The professor slouched behind the podium, very slowly booting up the computer and projector and tapping out his username and password. With a confident look back at him, Jazz sat down next to Trevor and pulled out her little foldable desk under her armrest. Many others in the crowed had done the same.

A good portion of the crowd looked like they'd be right at home with his parents. Another portion, his girlfriend. But most of the students looked perfectly normal- notebooks open to blank pages, pens and pencils ready for notes. Very average. Very human. He could be here one day- or at least a place like it. It was something expected of a human being his age. But the comfort and warmth of the jacket he wore and the hum of voices in his collection were a constant reminder that he was not entirely human. In the ghost zone, he would not be expected to study in any university, or have a career, study for an exam, save for retirement. He had other duties.

Balancing the expectations was not going to be easy.

He stood back as the projector lowered and the students began to settle in. The clock ticked closer and closer to the beginning of class. Dr. Ewing, with the computer finally ready stepped to the edge of the platform and waited patiently for the murmurs to die down and those still standing to find their seats.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." There were a few responses from around the room. A few students yawned, and Danny fully understood the feeling. "Thank you for coming- to all of those who are visitors. And thank you to all of those whose grade depends on being here. We have a very special guest with us today. Daniel Fenton, also and perhaps better known as Danny Phantom, has agreed to come and speak to us about the video I'm sure has been on the mind of every student on this campus for weeks. So if we can have your attention- please welcome Daniel Fenton." There was a raucous applause from the filled auditorium as he stepped forward. Enough that he was actually startled just a little. He waved nervously.

"Hello everyone, I'm Danny." There were waves and even a few cheers. "I don't know if this is going to be as exciting as Dr. Ewing made it sound." He said. "But I'm here to explain to you a little bit about what everyone saw on the football field in Amity Park. But before I do that- I have to tell you a story or none of it is going to make sense. So my sister Jazz," he motioned to her, sitting in the front row. "You know her as the one who keeps ruining the curve for everyone, is going to stop me if I confuse everybody, and I can answer some questions when it's over."

"Are you single?" A female voice called from the back row, and a male voice echoed her. The students laughed.

"Can we keep the questions relevant to the topic please?" Dr. Ewing said. Danny, pretty much used to the outbursts only smiled.

"No, I have a girlfriend. Sorry." The class quieted down and eyes turned to him expectantly. It was time to come out into the world as the person he'd turned into. The rumors in the ghost zone had spread and multiplied until they were almost unbearable. The dead were terrible gossips. He had a chance to nip that in the bud in the living world right now, and he needed to take the chance. Pretty soon he'd set the record straight in the ghost zone, but for now he had to focus on the living. Everyone looking at him now were normal human beings. When he said 'transformante' they didn't know what the hell he was talking about. He hadn't until a few weeks ago. When they saw his new visage they didn't have the ability to read his signature or feel him out the way other ghosts did. They couldn't see or feel his mission just by getting close to him.

He liked his secrets, all ghosts did. But the ability change instead of stay the same was what made him such a powerful ghost. And it was time that people understood him better.

"So as it turns out," he began. "Time travel is totally possible." And he told them the story.

He edited the personal bits out, nor did he name the restaurant. But through the confusion of time travel, a quick definition of 'collection', and the horror of a child murderer and evil robots, the class kept up fairly well. And when it was over he wasn't sure if he'd made someone cry, or if Dr. Ewing would have him committed.

"Maybe you can explain to us how you can be a ghost and alive at the same time." The quiet question from the professor was not what he expected. But the man looked totally focused, pen and paper ready as though he'd be the one tested on it later.

"Well, I'm not sure I can- I don't really know how it works. Technically I'm called a hybrid. There are only three of us in the world, and one of us isn't even a true hybrid. I do know that I in order for it to work, I already had to have been a good candidate for a ghost. I had to die, briefly, but not stay dead. It works if you die slowly too, but I don't know what the actual mechanics are. I can tell you that it hurt though. A lot." The room remained quiet.

"How did you die?" The timid voice he recognized as Trevor's. He was blushing and his father was shooting him a glare. Jazz was giving him a supportive look. Danny could feel something heavy coming off the boy- a quiet and gentle kind of sympathy not everyone had.

"I think that may be a little too personal…" Dr. Ewing said before Danny interrupted.

"No, it's okay. I can't tell you exactly, since it has to do with how I ended up half a ghost, and people really don't need to get any ideas. But I can tell you that when your third grade teacher tells you not to stick a fork in the toaster, you should listen." The mild tension faded as the class laughed. "That 'please unplug before servicing' sticker on your appliances is there for a reason." Even Trevor laughed. Jazz shook her head, but she giggled along with him. She had lived with him long enough to see the funny side- their parents hadn't quite learned yet.

"Maybe you could tell us about the fight on the football field. Who was the ghost you were fighting?" The class continued to laugh, but Danny's humor faded a bit. This was the other half of the story, and this one hurt a little bit more. He kept it vague, but told the story anyway.

"So basically you were just going to turn into some badass motherfucker no matter what?" The voice was lost in laughter that even Danny appreciated. Dr. Ewing turned in his chair to give the students threatening looks.

"Let's cool it with the language, please." He scolded. "Tell us about the other ghosts, the collection. And maybe, the music that played in the stadium?" Danny nodded and moved behind the podium to plug in his player.

"I think now is a good time to talk about that. Now that you kind of understand where the music came from. The collection is made up of the ghosts of people that died in the restaurant, but also spirits, which are basically things like ghosts that were formed by other ghosts. It takes a lot of power to make one, let alone more eight- but my collection kind of has a secret weapon. She's also where the music comes from." Danny looked to Jazz to gauge her opinion. He promised to keep things at a dull roar, but Mary had been whispering in his ear since he arrived, and she knew the music far better than he did. Jazz gave him a skeptical look but nodded. She liked Mary- but knew just how slack a leash Phantom kept on her.

"Do you want to meet her?" There were nods and a few affirmative responses.

"Of course." Dr. Ewing said with enthusiasm.

There was a little flash of light in the center of the platform, and the little red and white box rose up as though it had always been there. A few students gasped, and some shifted uncomfortably in their seats. They remembered watching her work. The lid swung open and Mary Annette popped out with her blonde, curly pigtails, black lacey dress, and black and white striped leggings. She smiled at the crowd and waved silently, bouncing on her toes.

"This is Mary. You saw her in the video, doing most of my work for me actually. She and I have known each other since the beginning, pretty much. She's kind of the secret weapon. If she'd been her own ghost she would have been extremely powerful. But she decided to stick around with me." The box disappeared and Mary, entirely comfortable under the gaze of a hundred strangers bounced forward to shake hands with Trevor Ewing who was staring dumbfounded with an open mouth. She pat Jazz on the head, then skipped back to the podium.

"She likes music- she can use the voice of anyone in the collection, and she comes up with the music to keep herself entertained. She has a flair for the dramatic, so she used it to intimidate 'Dan' when she was fighting with him. It worked."

"Is there more music?" Dr. Ewing asked. He addressed Mary, but she ignored him. Instead she tugged gently on the yellow jacket. Danny let it slide off and she wrapped it around herself like a robe.

"Actually, there is a lot more. The kind of powers she has lets her take over my mp3 player- so I listen to it a lot, whether I want to or not." She stuck her tongue out at him, but smiled, and it earned her a few laughs. "Do you want to hear a few?" The nods where universal. And Jazz beamed- it was a sure way into her professor's heart, or more importantly, his grade book.

"I heard that you had to hear a lot about the 'symbolism' and all that about these songs- and I apologize for that." The students laughed. "But this is one song that probably isn't going to need a whole lot of analyzing." He searched through his playlist, Mary standing on her toes beside him and pointing at those she liked the best. He queued up the music and watched for Jazz's reaction.

 _I really hate you, stop getting in my way._

Mary's light, tinkling laughter joined the others as they listened, even Dr. Ewing smiled. She could be subtle, when she felt the need. But most of the time she didn't feel the need. By the time the song was over, everyone knew exactly the emotion that had created that song. He queued up the next before any more questions arose.

 _I'm not just a creature, more than a simple feature_

 _I'll stand here waiting until you can't see me_

 _We're all fun and games here, there's no need for you to fear_

 _I'll be here waiting until you grow weary_

The laughter had toned down. Some were thoroughly enjoying the music for the music. Dr. Ewing listened closely to the lyrics, and even little Trevor seemed sobered by the feeling. Mary danced a little in front of the podium to her own music.

 _I'm not the crazed killer you think I am_

 _I'm just here ready to see vengeance through._

 _Hatred, bloodlust, they're all irrelevant to_

 _The moment when my jaws close down on you…_

The air was less humorous, but Mary had a wide smile anyway. She made it just the way she wanted it, it was more art to her than emotion now.

"Tell us, who is that song about?" Dr. Ewing asked gently. Mary remained quiet, and they were getting the distinct feeling she didn't do a whole lot of talking.

"Me, I think." Mary clung to his jacket, grossly oversized on her, and sat on Jazz's armrest, mimicking the serious posture of those sitting around her. "Most of her songs seem to be about me. Like I said, we know each other really well, and I am the oldest part of the collection- so a lot of her songs are about me."

"What about the others? The guards that became part of the collection? Does she make music about them?" Mary smiled and clapped her hands in excitement.

"Yeah- a lot of those are really fun. We like to think we have a pretty good sense of humor." He played the next- Mary's version of a rap battle between the animatronics and night guards, and another entirely from the employee's point of view.

 _It's twelve am, you're wide awake…_

 _There's a shadow on the wall, stay calm, stay calm…_

The lecture had turned into a dance party. Mary, the always dramatic and incurable ham danced while the music played. Students danced in their seats. They cried during sad songs, and laughed during the funny ones. He explained each character- Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie, Chica, and told them their stories during 'Noticed' and 'Chica's Song'.

By the time Danny ran out of steam, everyone liked Mary better than him, music had been uploaded onto the internet, Jazz had a solid grade, and it was nearly an hour and a half past the end of class.

He promised Dr. Ewing a cd and another class visit, put Mary away while she waved and giggled at the crowd, and hugged his sister goodbye. He flew home rather than teleported.

His transformation was a fact of life. His new duties, new position, and new power was all fact. It was good to not have to keep secrets, to be whole at last, to be himself.

Somewhere, Clockwork was shaking his head. Life is never easy- even life after life.

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I can't believe I actually did it.

Everyone thank HerdingDog1! Without their poking and nagging I never would have finished this chapter. But I am over the roadblock now and ready to move on to chapter two!

Music:

"Die in a Fire"- Living Tombstone

"Jaws"- The Aviators

"After Hours"- JT Machinima

"Stay Calm"

"Noticed"

"Chica's Song"

Sorry, I don't remember the artists on all of them, but they are all on youtube for your listening pleasure. This is going to be about the music, so if you're into it this is the fic for you. If not, plot will not be heavily dependent on it, so you should be okay.

-TheColorsofSand-


	2. Roam These Halls

Evil

Chapter 2: Roam These Halls

Old Fredbear now hung very proudly in his old cabinet, alone. He still couldn't move, but now, he didn't need to. Phantom made sure to return to his old home each night, just to be sure he was being treated well. The robots were all in fairly good repair. Chica glitched every once and a while, Bonnie still had that small hole in his belly, and Freddy's neck joint ground a little, but all and all they had no major problems. Foxy was a different story, but he had little wear and tear to worry about.

At midnight they continued to walk the halls. Invisibly, Phantom stalked with them, but the game was no longer so deadly. Now they could play amongst themselves instead. Mary, brought to the surface again, terrorized the night guard with music, strange sounds, and glimpses of her old Marionette animatronic. The spirits had the power to play a more spirited game. And Phantom would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the familiar routine.

He followed Bonnie down the hallway. Chica was waiting at the opposite door, and they all giggled together when the lights came on and they heard a shriek inside. The doors banged shut, but the sound was no longer lonely. They still stalked the night guard, and the game would continue so long as it could, but Phantom had them reigned in a bit better now. They didn't know it, but the night guards no longer had to worry about dying horribly- for the most part anyway. Phantom wasn't sure he could trust them alone just yet.

Mary danced down the hall, music box notes tinkling after her. The cameras could not see her, but could hear the drifting music. The new employee did not appreciate the sentiment. In fact, he didn't seem to appreciate the game at all. He would probably quit in the morning- a good percentage did. It kept the game fresh- finding someone new to play with.

The collection had their way from closing to opening. The restaurant could do nothing to stop it, and Phantom didn't want to. It was their home, and his home too. And for as long as it stood, it would be their prison as well. He could call them away from it, but the walls would always hold him prisoner. It should, at least, not feel like a prison.

And then it was six am.

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Danielle stayed in Jazz's old room. Granted, she still disappeared randomly, and sometimes for two or three days at a time; but now he always seemed to know where it was she'd gone, and how to find her. And early in the morning she was always more than happy to sneak in on him. Especially after a late night and busy day to follow.

"If I were you mother I'd never let you sleep in so late."

"You're not letting me do it anyway." Danny groaned. His 'daughter' floated up above his bed and sat on his back. He groaned again.

"It's ten a.m."

"I went to bed at six."

"Lazy." Danny rolled over quickly in an attempt to dump Danielle on the floor. Instead she floated easily away and he ended up dumping _himself_ on the floor. Dani giggled just enough that he knew she felt absolutely no sympathy for him.

"I'm not going to get any more sleep today am I?" She shook her head.

"Nope. You're mother sent me."

"Danny? Are you up? We need you in the lab!" He sighed with more exasperation than he felt. Dani grinned widely at him and he had a suspicion that she had something to do with it. The longer she stayed with the Fenton's the more he was starting to see it.

She was just like the rest of them.

"I'll let them know you'll be down in a minute." She said and waved, disappearing through the floor.

It was good to have her around- now even more than before. They were muddling through the mire of ghost relations that neither had much experience with. News spread quickly that their relationship had now become more formal. Which meant Dani was getting almost as wide a berth as he was, and they had plenty of time to get acquainted with their new roles.

Phantom's transition had set up a little Phantom household, and his claim of territory in the ghost zone as well as the living world elevated his status greatly. He went from adolescent outcast to lordship in a week and the ghost zone was dealing with it in its own way.

Frostbite was ecstatic and made the trip to Amity Park to congratulate him and make a formal pact with the Far Frozen. He even brought gifts. For Dani; a short dagger made of ice that would never melt nor break. She loved it. His gift had been yet another object of power Frostbite had hidden in the Far Frozen's protection. He appreciated the gesture, but he wasn't sure when he'd find himself wanting to wear a crown.

He was learning what it meant to be an adult ghost, and not just an adult- but a powerful ghost in service of the Observant's Council. And he was finding out that high-school history was coming in handy. The ghost zone operated more or less on a feudal system. Power came with a lot of rights in the land of the dead, and a lot of responsibilities. He still had a lot to do.

His hot shower felt good after a long night. He wasn't as tired as he let on. In fact he found that he needed less and less food and sleep as a human being, and more of those things as a ghost. Fortunately Phantom needed fewer of both of those things by comparison. It was good for the Fenton's food bill because Dani was getting to the stage where she would eat just about anything she could get her hands on. Not unusual for an adolescent human being, but a little odd for a ghost.

He supposed he was paving the way. Hybrids were phenomena unheard of in the land of the dead until Vlad came along. Clockwork claimed that he and Danielle would likely be the last, so everything Dani would get in the ghost zone he would have to carve out for her. If she were mostly human he wouldn't be so concerned about it- but the truth was, she was born a ghost. The living world wasn't as complicated as the ghost zone. If you walked and talked and looked human enough, it was good enough. In the world of the dead- you worked to make your place.

He dressed quickly. He wasn't sure what his mother wanted in the lab, but he found himself spending a fair amount of time down there. With Danielle cooperating, his parent's research was in full swing once more, now with slightly less emphasis on weaponry.

Not that they were getting rid of any weapons, of course.

He trudged down the stairs, hair still wet. Danielle floated around the house as she pleased, but he preferred to limit his ghost form around his family- the change was still a little uncomfortable for them. Dani's ghost form however, was going over quite well. In fact his parents loved having her around. She loved fudge as much as Jack, target practice as much as Maddie, and had endless patience for constant questions. She didn't even mind sitting still in the lab for as long as they asked.

He checked his oversized watch- a slightly sarcastic gift from Clockwork. It was well past ten in the morning, but he could afford to be a little lazy now that his responsibilities in the living world were less than those in the ghost zone. He enjoyed sleeping in, watching television, even reading a book all the way through to the end. He wasn't sure how his parents felt about the whole idea. But he felt he deserved some time off.

"Danny! You didn't go back to sleep did you?" His mother called from the lab.

"I'm right here Mom." He called back from the top of the stairs. The eerie glow from the open portal crept up the stairs as he trudged down. The portal was always open now- a small chow of faith from his parents ever since they learned his secret. "What did you need?" He asked.

His mother and father, in full jumpsuit and gear turned and smiled at him. In the center of the room, Danielle sat on the stool in her ghost form, wires and sensors stuck to her in odd places. There was an empty stool beside her, and Danny had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

"I can't be here all day." He said. "I have things that I need to do today."

"Oh it won't take long." Maddie replied, guiding him to the stool and sitting him down. "We do need Phantom though." She said pointedly. Danny sighed. At least they hadn't brought out the scalpels and straps yet.

He changed- the dry cold washing over him, and the numb sensation of the material of his body converting and reforming. The first time it was horrible- but now it was familiar and even safe. He lost a little in terms of human sensation, but the senses of a ghost were much wider than that of a human being. He could even feel the emotions floating around in the room, especially those of his parents.

His transformation had different effects on the two of them. He could feel it everyday in the sensations coming off of them. His mother was the same- but mothers were like that. He always knew his mother would be the first to accept whatever change came over him. But Jack… he was dealing. They didn't really know each other anymore, but the new normal was not uncomfortable. It was only a matter of time before that scar healed over. It wouldn't be the same. But it would be just as good.

Maddie was in a good mood- he could feel the light bubbly air that came off her. Jack was concentrating- he was deeply interested in what they were doing. But he could also feel how uncomfortable he was around his ghost form; not afraid, but still wary. He felt exposed when he was around Phantom. Dani, being a ghost, naturally regulated the feelings that he could sense. The base emotion of a ghost in a comfortable surrounding did not stand out, but was still there. She was probably feeling the same thing coming from him right now.

His mother and father began loading him up with the same wires and sensors they'd pasted Dani with. She seemed entirely fine with the operation, but Danny had the weird feeling pain would be involved.

"So, what are all these for?" Jack glanced at him involuntarily- his deep yet doubled voice had a metallic echo to it, no longer the same as his natural, human voice. Maddie didn't seem to mind at all.

"We were so interested in how it was possible for ghosts to have children, we wanted to investigate just how connected a parent ghost is to the child ghost. So were are going to measure how or if Danielle's body reacts to what your body is doing." When he thought about it, it made sense. They were technically made out of the same material- even the same person. He always knew where she was, and she was always able to find him no matter where he was. It would make sense that they influenced each other on a basic, material level. However, he was now positive that pain would be involved somehow.

"Alright, but just warn me before you… ow!" A sharp electric shock pinched at his elbow and his arm twitched involuntarily. Both parents watched their computer screen carefully as their reactions were measured.

They went through the whole range- from mild to powerful, at every area. Then switched to deep, sonic vibrations. Neither said much, only watched the computer screen as it drew little graphs after each experiment. They had him form ecto-blasts, first small and then large, and had Danielle to the same. The little line on each graph jumped around, sometimes separately and sometimes together. They changed from ghost to human and back again, individually and then together. After an hour, Phantom was starting to get a little tired of the random generated pains and began glancing at his watch.

He'd promised his friends he'd meet them that day.

"Alright Danny, that's enough for today." Maddie said, noticing his repeated and significant glances at his watch. Jack seemed a little disappointed. He stood and changed back, Jack helping him to gently remove the sensor.

"We should be finished collating this afternoon." He said excitedly.

"Well uh… let us know what you find out." Danielle was already hovering over the printer, watching the graphs as they emerged. She and Maddie both pointed to various peaks and troughs and muttering to each other. Danny smiled to himself. She really was just like them.

"Have fun, I promised Sam and Tucker I'd meet them before work today." They all waved dismissively at him. He waved back, shaking his head. They would bury their noses in data for a while- they might not even notice that he'd gone.

Sam got a job at that ridiculous bookstore that she so enjoyed. It was a good fit for her. She spent most of her days reading, glaring, and listening to very depressing people read very depressing poetry. He liked that business was just slow enough that he and Tucker could hang out for a while without getting in the way. Which was exactly the plan for the first part of the day.

He had accepted the inevitability that he was actually going to have to learn something. Now with the appropriate time, he'd read those two or three books Clockwork gave him. Sam had taken the time to go through the shop and pull out all the books on the ghost zone that looked even mildly accurate, and he'd been spending a lot of his time reading. Danny couldn't help but notice that most of her paychecks were going right back to the bookstore, but she didn't seem to mind.

Tucker was working on meshing Fenton technology with the technology of the ghost zone, which was surprisingly advanced. He was also starting schooling a little early- internet courses on basic coding, which he was flying through. Sam had already enrolled in a nearby university and couldn't wait to start.

Danny slept in, watched television, and read books about ghosts. Sam's parents had been right about him all along.

He walked to the bookstore, the warm air woke him up a bit more, and he was glad to just enjoy an early summer morning in his home. His territory now defined, the paranoia had subsided a little. Every ghost entering his territory he would feel immediately. Any ghost already inside, he easily tracked. Human beings still posed a problem, but he imagined it was a form of ghostly pride that kept him from worrying too much about normal human problems. Or maybe he was just detached. Either way, relaxing for the first time in years felt incredibly good.

His friend and girlfriend were waiting for him. Tucker in his tablet- his new less than secret love affair. Sam was helping a very fat girl in a large black dress find a book about Goth fashion design- which he didn't know was even a thing. She gave him a nod when he walked in. Tucker, sitting at a hard-wood table in low lighting waved cheerfully. He sat beside his best friend until his girlfriend was done.

"That girl was in here yesterday, talking to Sam. I think she's actually getting into the idea of fashion design." They both shuddered involuntarily.

"I always knew one of us would start the apocalypse, I just thought it would be me." Danny replied.

"Hand me your phone." Danny didn't bother to ask why, only pulled out his smartphone out of his pocket and handed it over. Tucker pulled out a cord, plugged it in, and went to work. Danny watched Sam and the young woman exchange e-mail addresses, and he smiled. Maybe the 'end times' really had come. Sam joined them a moment later.

Sam sat down beside them, grasping Danny's arm briefly. Claiming his territory had done wonders for him- he was no longer so concerned public displays of affection would cause her harm, but they took it slowly. Tucker was too busy tapping away on the already worn screen. Danny kissed her quickly and she pat his arm.

"She's working on entirely recycled clothing- she's been in here a couple of times a week actually. I think she has some really good ideas."

"Tucker and I just thought the world was coming to an end or something- you talking about 'fashion trends' with another girl, and neither of you were shouting." Sam snorted.

"I can be just as well-rounded as the next pro-feminist goth. Slept in again?"

"Tried to, Dani's keeping me honest and hardworking."

"It's an uphill battle." He kissed her, and Tucker rolled his eyes.

"I gotta get myself a girlfriend, then I can make you guys uncomfortable when she hangs all over me."

"I don't hang all over him." Sam protested. Tuck snorted.

"Sam we all know that Danny is _your_ girlfriend." They all laughed quietly. Sam put her arm in Danny's as they sat together.

It was odd… being Phantom's girlfriend. And nowadays she had no doubt that's what she was. He'd changed, but not in a bad way. She began to think of him more and more as the older ghost rather than the young man, and she was okay with that. His ghost form did not disturb her, and she was warming up to his new appearance.

Tucker, on the other hand, was thrilled. His change went a little deeper than a few claws and a few inched. Like Technus or Skulker, he was now a mix of inorganic machinery and true ghost. They had already spent hours trying to figure out what it meant. He was the only one Danny trusted with the ins and outs of his machinery.

They sat for a while- Tucker absently working to make his cell phone compatible with the technology popular in the ghost zone, as well as his own hardware. He was making progress, so far with slight modifications, Danny could now answer his cell phone in his ghost form and take the call directly in his ear. Making everything ghost zone compatible was a different matter however, and the problem was a puzzle Tucker was all too happy to try to solve.

Danny wasn't sure what he'd do without him. Tucker didn't seem the least bit concerned about having something like Phantom for a 'brother'. Both he and Sam stuck close to him despite the roller coaster that had been his life for the last several years. Danielle had gotten even closer. His sister stayed his sister, his mother stayed his mother, and his father- was still around. It was all he could hope for, more than he expected, and probably more than he deserved.

He was incredibly lucky.

He glanced at his watch after a while and sighed. Nothing good lasted forever, and he had to go to work. He retrieved his phone from his best friend, kissed his girlfriend goodbye, and flew off to the Nasty Burger, where a slow, painful, six-hour battle awaited him.

Valerie Gray still worked at the old Nasty Burger, and after filling in for her once or twice, the rest of the staff was happy to have him around more often. It wasn't the best work in the world, and he refused to work anywhere but in the kitchen where the general public could not see him; but he honestly enjoyed the few hours a week he spent there.

He couldn't tell if the Red Huntress liked having him around or not, but that was normal for Valerie. He couldn't be sure if she was about to laugh at his bad jokes, or shoot him for it. But that, of course, was half of the fun. They worked well together, and they would both even admit it if pressed. It was after work that he had to be concerned about her.

He tried to be polite and fly in or teleport just out of range of her sensors, which now accompanied her everywhere- even her menial minimum wage job. He walked the rest of the way to the restaurant. He had calibrated her sensors for her- they no longer went off to his particular signature, but they still registered the blip of teleportation. And she insisted that they didn't ignore him completely- he still registered when she searched for him. She had been less than pleased when, late for work, he surprised her by teleporting into the freezer.

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"I'm right above you, Red." Danny said, lifting a large tray of buns over her head as she bent over a line of five or six incomplete burgers, working frantically to piece them together.

"Something like you is always beneath me." She said harshly and scooted down the line. He followed her closely, working just as fast.

"Ouch, who pissed in your cheerios this morning?" He asked. She stuffed the now wrapped burgers into bags and opened her mouth to speak, then sighed at the beeping in their headsets, and answered the drive-thru instead. Valerie always got mean when they got busy. It was her way of keeping it all straight in her mind. It meant she was really good at her job, just not always pleasant to work with. It was a human thing, and he remembered having to do the same thing. Not so much now. Being calm in the crisis made it a lot easier to get through. But of course, he'd had thirty years of practice now.

He listened to the order and let his hands work without much direction. Valerie could sound downright pleasant when she wanted to. The moron at the other end of the line, responsible for the orders coming in from the front counter, was carefully counting the trays stacked under the prep line for no apparent reason. Valerie seamlessly moved in behind him to take over her own orders while he moved down to take over the other orders. The two shot glances at each other to convey their frustration. 'Niles' was obviously not one the same planet, and despite numerous attempts to get him back on track, Danny and Valerie had learned to work around him as though he wasn't even there.

Unfortunately, they also had the tendency to ignore him completely. He stood up, and backed right into Valerie, who kept a grip on the bag she was carrying, but lost her headset and the battery.

"Uh, sorry." Niles said, then looked up at the order screen above his head. "Where are you guys?" The headset beeped in his ear and Danny sighed while Valerie scrambled to reach the battery, now stuck in coagulated grease under the burger grill.

"Are you gonna get that?" She said harshly. Danny sighed again and answered the headset.

"Hello! How's everybody doing?" Valerie frowned and shoved battery in its slot, and crammed it back over her ears.

Danny didn't take orders. He had no desire to be up front where people could stop and stare, or at the window, where endless questions held up business. He packed orders, he made burgers, he took out the trash, but he didn't do a lot of interaction. Of course, truth be told, he was more afraid of the Red Huntress than he was a few 'Phans'.

"Hello?" An aged female voice shouted into his ear. Danny quickly pulled the headset away before the old woman hurt his hearing.

"Hello." He responded. "What can I get for you?"

"Is he in there?" The voice shouted again. Valerie laughed out loud, startling Niles.

"It's all yours, Spook." She said, and went back to the orders on the screen, still laughing.

"Um, is who in here?" He asked, confused. The woman's voice had not lowered in the slightest.

"That ghost boy thing! You still have him in there?" She didn't sound like a 'phan'. In fact, she sounded terribly disapproving. Val was still laughing.

"Sometimes." He said. There was an angry sigh through the headset.

"Ought not to be inviting things like that around here. I don't know what you people are thinking, having a freak like that around. You going to hire my dog for you manager next?" Valerie was cracking up, and even Danny had to laugh.

"Who is this your grandmother?" He asked her. But into the headset he said. "No Ma'am."

"Is he here today?" She asked, still loud enough for the rest of the staff nearby to hear her through his headset.

"No Ma'am, not today." He lied. He blushed a little, mostly from trying not to laugh. He should have been offended, but he could bring himself to be angry at a little old lady.

"Good." She said firmly. He took her order, stifling laughter. He gave the food to Valerie to hand out, just in case she recognized him, but managed to catch a glimpse of her as she drove away. She was the typical kind-hearted grandmother type. White curly hair, colorful knit vests and denim stretch pants, skinny for her diet of fast food, and an almost adorable age-quiver in her normal speaking voice. He had the weird feeling Valerie had a grandmother with a few suspicious things in common with this woman.

"She comes in here at least once a week." Red said. "And I always hoped you'd be here when she did." Danny shook his head.

"Must be nice to know there's more than one of you, huh, Red." She flipped him off but smiled anyway, and they went back to their job.

He was the only one allowed to call her 'Red'. And he certainly wouldn't let anyone else call him 'Spook'.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he answered it despite the glare from his co-workers. The phone had been a condition of his continued employment. He couldn't answer it remotely in his human form yet.

"It's me." He said automatically, not recognizing the number. He removed the headset from his other ear, but his hand continued working, the phone trapped between his ear and shoulder.

"Um hello, is this…" there was a shuffling of paper and a nervous gulp. "Danny Fenton?"

"That's right." He said. There was another nervous noise on the other end.

"You uh… used to work at Freddy Fazbear's, right? You quit a few weeks ago."

"Yes I did. What's this about?" The man on the other end, obviously not much older than Danny himself was shuffling some more papers. He sounded appropriately nervous for someone that worked at the pizzeria.

"Well there was some talk that you may know uh… how to repair the animatronics." Danny quietly released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. No disaster, at least not for him.

"Yeah, I think I know the machinery well enough I could fix a few things. Why do you ask?" The man suddenly sounded relieved.

"There was a little bit of a disaster today- someone got a little… rough… with one of the machines, and we need to repair it. We just can't seem to find anyone qualified. We'd appreciate it if you could help us out. We'd pay you, of course. It's just that… we close at eight pm, and we need to be done and out of there by uh, you know, midnight." Danny checked his watch, another thing he was not allowed to have at work, but did anyway. The clock read seven o'clock, he was supposed to be off in a half an hour.

"I get done here pretty soon, I can be there right at eight, before you close the doors. Will that work?" The man swallowed again.

"Perfect." He said. "We have some tools and parts, but…"

"I can take care of all that." He said. "I'll see you then." He stuffed his phone back in his pocket. Valerie gave him a look.

"Going to get one of your little ghost buddies out of trouble?" She jeered.

"It's a job, and that was weak." He responded.

"I had one about your Mom, but I'm saving it for later." Danny just laughed.

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The pizzeria after the lights were out was still a little eerie, but now in late summer, the sunset on the horizon made it seem a little less ominous than it did before. Of course, he wasn't afraid of it anymore. It was like a second home. The employees inside, however, did not seem to share that sentiment. The last customers exited as he entered, a young man with a 'security' hat holding the door open for him and locking it firmly behind him.

Danny knew him from the night before. But of course, the night guard didn't know that. He shook his hand as he introduced himself as 'Nick', and brought him to the manager. The balding, sweating man he'd met the very first night he started weeks ago.

"So what's the trouble?" He asked. The manager, wiping sweat from his brow, led him up to the stage, where three of the four animatronics stood perfectly still, shut down for the time being.

"The robots need repair." The manager said. "Bonnie's arm has been slow to respond, and it makes a clicking noise. We're afraid it's going to just stop functioning altogether. But the real problem is Freddy's neck. It doesn't turn anymore. His head is locked in position."

"For how long?" Danny asked, getting much closer to the robots than the other two dared to get.

"Freddy stopped working this afternoon."

"We had a little excitement today." Nick continued, but closed his mouth after a look from the manager.

"What kind of excitement?" The manager shrugged, but Danny saw the evil look he gave his new night guard.

"Just some crackpot kid pulling a prank or something. Got all crazy and threw a chair. Must have broken something. Bonnie's arm has been clicking for weeks." Danny moved over to Bonnie and took a peek in each elbow joint. A little pin on one side was slightly askew and Danny felt a small twinge of guilt. He'd pulled that pin before.

"Well Bonnie's arm in just fine, there is just a little pin in here that got out of place." Danny dug out an old, long flat head screwdriver from his pocket a poked around inside for a moment. They heard a little 'click', and Danny seemed satisfied.

"Do you think you can fix Freddy?" The manager asked. "We need him at least functioning by tomorrow." Danny, under the stage lights reached up and tried to turn Freddy's head manually. Both other men on the stage looked horrified at the thought of touching the robot.

He could feel an odd grind in the joint, and could hear metal hitting metal when he tried to turn his head. When he tried to tilt it back, it felt like there was no joint at all. The robots had almost full range of motion in all their joints, he should be able to turn it any which way.

"Do you have a stepstool or something? I'm going to need to get up higher so I can see inside. There might be something in here that needs replacing. You said you have spare parts?"

"Yeah. It's old, but there's another suit in there was can take parts from, if we need to." Danny glanced at him with a frown, but hid it quickly. Old Fredbear was his suit, was _him_ , even. The thought of having his old friend cannibalized for a few spare parts was strangely horrifying to him.

"Well I'll do what I can with what you've got. I might even have something that will help." The night guard brought him the stool and he went to work carefully taking Freddy apart.

He wasn't sure exactly where the knowledge of the inner workings of the suits came from. Somewhere in his collection, someone knew every minute detail of the robots. The machinery was similar to his own, and he did have a talent for putting things together. It was almost his duty to ensure the robots were in working order- they were his friends after all. And though he didn't create the vessels, he created the spirits that inhabited them. It didn't matter what he did to free the spirits. As long as the building still stood, as long as the robots still existed, they would be stuck right there inside of them. His own suit had been disabled, and it was hell to sit and watch in his impotent little prison. He would never condemn his friends to the same fate, not if he could help it.

He opened up Freddy's neck, most of his head in pieces all around him on the stage. The night guard watched fascinated and terrified. Freddy had indeed been broken- the joints that allowed the neck to rotate up and down had broken an integral piece, his head rested in a permanent down position, so that the upper part of the joint interfered with the lower part. So he couldn't turn his head either. All he needed was one bolt to keep one screw on track, and Freddy would have his neck back.

"I'll be right back, I think I can find what we need." Danny disappeared around a corner for a moment, just so 'Nick' couldn't see him teleport back to the ghost zone and search from the loose part he needed. He returned less than a minute later.

"So you think you can fix him?" The guard asked.

"It's what I'm doing now, actually. Most of these parts are pretty simple, once you know how to put them together."

"Any chance you could wait till tomorrow?" The man said ruefully. Danny smiled to himself and shook his head.

"There wasn't anything wrong with his arms and legs." He reminded him. "Besides, you don't have as much to worry about as you think you do." Nick cast Freddy's head, still on the floor a hateful look.

"You went through the same thing too, right? I'm not just making it all up, am I"

"No, you're not making it up. I went through something a little different, but trust me- you don't have as much to worry about as you think you do. If you did, I'd be taking them apart and not fixing them." Danny slowly but surely reassembled Freddy's head until he was back to his proper condition. He checked Chica over as well, but she was still in good order. Just because he could, he fluffed out the sticky handprints on Freddy's head and stitched up the small hole in Bonnie's belly. The stains, however, he could do nothing about.

"How's old Foxy doing?" He asked, and the night guard seemed to jump at his voice.

"Well, _he's_ still in working order."

"Yeah, I suppose his problems are mostly aesthetic. If you don't mind, I'm going to go look at the other suit for a second." He didn't wait for Nick to answer him, though he reluctantly followed. The others were all in good order, but his friend was still immobile and pathetic in his little cabinet.

"I've never been in here before." Nick said nervously. In the bright lights, the stains on the floor were more obvious, and Nick gulped again. Danny threw open the cabinet and his friend hung there, looking sad.

"Hey that's…!" He was silenced by a glance from Danny, forgetting for a moment Danny knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I can't imagine they'd be looking for me to repair this one." He said, mostly to himself. Fredbear didn't need to move. The spirit inside was already free to do as he pleased, but he'd still give him his movement back if he had the chance.

"What, are you trying to kill me?" Nick chuckled nervously. Danny closed up the cabinet. He'd be back in a while anyway. Then he could look his friend over once more. Nick turned off the lights and closed up the door behind him, something rattling in his pocket as he brushed against the door frame. He reached into his pocket and snorted.

"Oh, duh, I bet you could have used this about an hour ago." He handed the pill bottle over to Danny. The label had been ripped off, and inside were not pills at all. "I found these a few days ago in the bottle of the filing cabinet, I think they're for the animatronics." Danny opened the bottle and dumped the contents into his palm. "Sorry." Nick shuffled past him towards the office, leaving him the hallway.

Danny didn't know if he should laugh or cry.

Twelve pins, each quite similar to the one in Bonnie's arm. And one bolt, old, rusted, and nearly stripped. He knew them right away. Pull the pins, turn the crank, springs unlock, skeleton folds back. Springs snap back, skeleton engages, replace pins.

They belonged to him, two in each knee, each elbow, and each side of the neck, enabling the springlock suit to engage each joint when working as an animatronic. Without them, the suit would crumple, useless, unable to stand, to move.

The bastard had pulled his pins.

He held up the bolt and looked at it closely. A small, simple object, on which a great deal had rested. The beginning of the end- and it had been that man's fault. Sabotage, betrayal of the game in the worst way. The anger flooded through him as cold and terrifying as it had been before. He clenched the bolt in his fist and took a deep breath until the anger subsided.

That was years ago. And he got what he deserved, and he would forever.

Danny put the pins and bolt back in the bottle and put it in his pocket. It may have been over, but that didn't mean that Phantom could forget.


	3. How Could We Forget?

Evil

Chapter 3: How Could We Forget?

Phantom woke after another long night, but this time not at FentonWorks. The bed in his lair was better than the one in his own room, and he found he got much better sleep now as Phantom rather than Fenton. A ringing phone, however, woke him no matter what state he was in. And thanks to Tucker, his lair had perfect reception. He forgave him simply for the convenience of being able to answer with a thought- the call receiving right in his ear and transmitting through his voice.

"Yeah? What is it?" He asked rather groggily, not even bothering to check who had called him. Tucker's voice answered him.

"Hey Dude, another long night?"

"Something like that. What's up?"

"You are- and all over the place. If you haven't been on YouTube recently you should be- search 'PatMat Phantom'- then turn on the news." Phantom sat up abruptly, suddenly not so tired.

"What?"

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 _"Hey this is PatMat with another exciting episode of 'Theory of Games' doing something a little different- today we are diving into a topic we've all been dying to know about…"_ A still picture of Phantom popped up, looking quite terrifying. _"What happened to Danny Phantom?"_

Phantom watched from his lair's console with a mix of feelings- most of them terror and exasperation. The YouTuber, one with a respectable following known for theorizing about urban legends and video game lore, had hit the nail right on the head.

He tracked back the entirety of the restaurant's history- outlined every grizzly murder and mysterious disappearance- and theorized quite accurately about Danny's origin. He seemed to know about FredBear, about Phantom, and knew how they fit together.

And he just put it up on YouTube for the entire world to see.

The worst part was seeing himself pop up- video taken during his little class visit. A few former night guards were interviewed; their letters or video worked into the fifteen-minute video confirming everything just theorized. It was all rather impressive. And all rather devastating.

His own personal horror smeared across the internet.

When it was over he did as instructed, and turned on the news. Which didn't make his mood any better. The video had spun out of control- the local stations interviewing the day manager at the restaurant- national new media covering the legal messes the company had tried to cover up over the years. Even financial data coinciding with the murders at more than one location. Families of the missing children were interviewed- current patrons shown in outrage over the new information. In short it was a mess- and it all seemed to be circling right around Phantom and how he came to be.

And the underlying theme was as uncomfortable to Phantom as it was to those watching, listening, and reading along- people had died at the hands of ghosts; people had died at the hands of The Phantom.

And there wasn't any getting around that.

He shut off the news and the computer. There wasn't anything that he could do about it now- he'd just have to figure it out later. He stopped back at home long enough to say hello to Danielle and get a fresh change of clothes, and went back to work.

Valerie was already there, looking even less friendly than normal. Niles, the idiot was already bungling behind the packing line, packing orders that had yet to be ordered. Val gave him a dark glare and then pretended she hadn't seen him. It was going to be a rather uncomfortable day.

His manager kept looking at him; nervous glances from an already nervous guy. Danny tried to ignore him. The staff gave him a wide berth- and with the foul mood it put him in, it was probably a good thing. He ignored their stares, and mostly, their timid directions. He didn't even bother to wear a headset for Val and packed his orders one behind. Only Val, despite her acid looks at him bothered to get close.

"So, is it true?" She asked, working quickly beside him. They were both busy enough during the lunch rush that neither had the time to throw punches. Probably the safest place and time that they could talk about anything sensitive. She glared at him and Danny glared right back.

"Mostly." He grunted back.

"Time travel and all?"

"Yeah." Valerie snorted, stuffing food into a flimsy paper bag.

"Hypocrite. You're no better than any of them- you're even worse." She muttered.

"What, you're going to act all surprised?" Danny said sharply. "I thought that's what you've been saying about me all along, Red." He was a little surprised she didn't turn on him, hissing and spitting like a pissed off alley-cat.

"Is it just a ghost thing, or were you a crazy serial murderer _before_ you died?" She spat back. Danny rolled his eyes and didn't respond. He didn't really trust himself to. He wanted to say something flippant back to her- but there wasn't much of a defense for that. His soul was still divided over it. One side screamed 'justified!' It remembered the pain and the rage. But the other side balked at the callous anger.

And yet he did not feel confused. It was that place- what he did inside those walls was not comparable to what he did outside them. The carnage as a result of his pain was justifiable- any above or beyond that was not. It was not terribly logical, and he didn't expect Red to understand. He wasn't sure any human _could_ understand. But he did, somehow. Maybe it was hypocritical, but Red had collected her share of hypocrisy.

He didn't feel like having that argument. Especially not with a restaurant full of onlookers. Red would get over it. Or she wouldn't. He'd just have to cross that bridge when he came to it.

She mostly didn't speak to him for the rest of the day, save to make demands. Which suited Phantom just fine, mostly. She did, however, manage to burn him four times and lock him in the freezer. By the time the shift was over he'd convinced himself that the Red Huntress was crazy and Jazz's little class trip was a bad idea. By the time he returned home, he was certain.

Dani was nowhere to be found- which wasn't a great sign. If she had retreated to higher ground already, then he didn't stand much of a chance. The house was unusually quiet, and he was tempted to head for the hills before the explosion became inevitable. His mother was not in the kitchen, and his father was not in the living room, however, he picked up the sound of the television coming from the lab.

He sighed to himself. He probably should have talked to them before work. He probably should have talked to them before the shit hit the fan. Sure, his parents knew the story- but he'd left out some of the graphic details. And maybe a key point or two. In any case hearing about it from YouTube and social media rather than him wasn't going to put either of his parents in a good mood. And Jack was having a hard enough time already.

"Mom, Dad?" He called down the stairs. He could definitely hear the television now- the local news recapping the rumors the internet had already circled. Something about 'mysterious disappearances' and a 'secret ghostly vendetta'. The sound was not encouraging.

"We're down here, Son." His mother called back. She sounded less than happy. Jack didn't answer at all. Phantom grit his teeth, he was going to have to go down there and face them eventually.

His phone rang in his pocket, and he recognized Jazz's ringtone. He was at once terribly happy for the delay and dreading what his older sister would have to say. He silently wished for a ghost attack like he never had before, and answered the phone.

"Hey Jazz."

"Danny! Have you been on the internet today?" He sighed.

"Yeah. And so has everyone else in the world, apparently. Valerie would have killed me today if she thought for a minute she'd have kept her job if she did."

"Well, Mom and Dad have been too. Are you home?"

"Just got home, actually. Mom didn't sound too pleased with the whole thing."

"She's not." Jazz said, sounding a little nervous. "And Dad's pretty pissed. I was going to tell you to steer clear for a while, but I guess I caught you too late."

"Yep. But that's the story of my life today."

"Mom already called me." Danny sighed through the phone. It was one thing for his parents to be unhappy, but if Jazz was telling him to steer clear- it was not the problem he was used to dealing with. It made sense- just like Valerie, Jack and Maddie had a lot of preconceived notions about ghosts. They were willing to give him some wiggle room, but crime scene photos and pleas from concerned family members were a graphic reminder of what they were really dealing with.

He was a ghost, and that was suddenly becoming abundantly clear.

"What did she say?"

"A lot about 'thinking you were different' and wondering why you 'didn't tell them anything'."

"I did tell them."

"But you didn't _confide_ in them Danny. You gave them the outline but you didn't go into gory details. There's a viral video dedicated to a _body count_! Ghost experts all over the country are weighing in- Mom and Dad's colleagues are calling you the most prolifically dangerous ghost in the world. It's one thing to say 'people died' and it's another thing to show them the pictures of the blood on the floor. They have pictures of the suit laying on the ground, covered in blood- and some guy telling the whole world that it's _you_ in the suit. Danny, everything suddenly got real for the entire world- and Mom and Dad were not the first people to learn about it."

Jazz was right- and he felt even more like an ass. Danny wasn't sure if he was glad Jazz called to warn him, or angry that she had to make things complicated again. But it was probably good at least one of them was thinking clearly. Jazz always had a good head. Which begged the question, how was she dealing with all this?

"Why aren't you mad at me right now?" It was her turn to sigh into the phone, and she was quiet for a moment.

"Danny, I know more about ghosts than I like to admit. But I know even more about you. Whether it's your ghost nature or not doesn't matter to me. I'm dealing with all of it- I'm just doing my best to remember first that you're my little brother. And I'm pretty sure that this whole thing is my fault for making you give that speech."

"I'm just glad you said it first." They both chuckled a little and then paused for a moment.

"Well, I should probably get down there and face the music." Danny said.

"Just explain things to them one step at a time. When they yell- don't yell back. Just let them say what they need to say. Call me later."

"I will." They said their goodbyes and Danny reluctantly hung up the phone. There really was going to be yelling, and he was not very optimistic about the next couple of hours. He really wanted to crawl back into the bed in his lair and forget about the looming problem. But instead he opened the door and started down the stairs.

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Danny lay in old bed and stared up at the ceiling. He mostly wanted to fly off to the ghost zone and forget the whole thing. But he was a little afraid to do just that. The human part of him feared if he kept running off every time he and his parents had an argument, one day he might not be welcomed back. His ghost half was beginning to wonder why he cared.

But of course, he still did. So he locked himself in his bedroom while his mother and father stomped around and grumbled to themselves downstairs. The conversation had not been pretty- but he liked to think that he kept his composure. His father had not. In fact, half of what Jack said he didn't even understand. His mother didn't even yell, which was even more frightening.

Dani was still absent. Pretty smart of her overall, but it also meant that he had no idea how she felt about the whole thing. She was a ghost too, surely she'd understand the way that the rest of his family did not. With Nocturne as her mentor, she'd better.

He closed his eyes and carefully scanned his territory for her, both in the living world and the ghost zone. He could feel her trail passing out of his scope hours ago. Probably about the time she found the video on YouTube. He sighed. He could call for her, she could usually sense when he was reaching for her, but he didn't want to force anything. She would come back to talk to him when she was ready. Or when she thought it was safe to be around his parents again. For all he knew they'd already tried sitting her down and making her explain it all to them.

Danielle didn't need to be interrogated, especially by an angry Jack. If their opinion of Phantom had changed, then it was possible their opinion of Danielle had changed. He hoped that he hadn't put her through that. Then again, she was tougher than he was and they all knew it.

It hurt- to hear them yell and see the disappointment on their faces. It hurt to see the anger. But he felt strangely numb about it. Perhaps he'd always known it was going to come down to a shouting match. He was learning slowly but surely that Phantom cared less and less about what his parent's thought and more and more the problem to be solved. Right now the problem remained to be seen and that was the toughest part.

The shit may have hit the fan, but he'd yet to see exactly how big the mess really was. He was a little afraid to call Sam, and he'd already talked to Tucker. Jazz was dealing with it, but Red was pretty pissed. People involved directly with the restaurant weren't going to be very happy, and all those people who once defended him against doubters were going to have to rethink things.

He knew how quickly he could go from hero to villain in the eyes of the public- but never before had he done anything to earn it. He'd earned it now, and he was still deciding how he felt about that. He shook his head and tried not to think about it. There wasn't anything that he could do now. All he could do was wait.

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Danny teleported directly to the nasty Burger for the third time that week. Valerie's sensor wouldn't appreciate it, but he didn't care. The mess spread further than he'd imagined, and he found himself dogged from one end of Amity Park to the other. Some protested- some wanted an autograph.

They had flocked to the pizzeria as well. Business was booming- when protestors didn't shut them down first. FredBear was padlocked in his cabinet to prevent wandering customers from getting at him. They hired more guards to prevent idiots from breaking into the store after hours, and his time spent wandering the halls at night with his friends was now more stressful than relaxing. People took pictures through the windows, and pressed their faces to the glass hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

Mary loved the attention, but he did his best to keep her out of sight anyway. He probably would have been better off keeping his past to himself in the first place. The spirits didn't really understand the difference, and he didn't feel the need to explain things. But his frustration and exasperation seemed to filter down into the rest of the collection.

Bonnie became even more proactive- in fact he hardly left the door. Chica took to staring hard into the camera in an attempt at psychological warfare. Foxy got a lot of exercise. But Phantom and Freddy did their best to hang back. They all had minds of their own, but his influence kept them from taking the game to its final end. Another disappearing act was stress that he just didn't need.

"Would it kill you to walk?" Val called as he snuck invisibly into the kitchen. He sighed as he appeared beside her, startling his manager, but not the Red Huntress.

"It might." He said. "Have you seen those people out there?" Red rolled her eyes at him. The lobby was busier than either had seen it in a long time, but the 'customers' were spending more time craning their necks to look into the kitchen than eating.

"Why is it that every time you show up, I have a bad day?" Danny frowned.

"Your miserable personality?" He said a little hotly. She frowned back. The place was too busy to get into it, but he had the feeling she'd be finding him again later to finish their conversation. And he wasn't going to enjoy their time together.

"Uh, Dan?" The manager interrupted before it became a 'thing'.

"It's Danny." He replied.

"Someone's asking for you." He gestured to the front counter.

"Who?"

"Some blonde girl. She said she knew you." He sighed heavily and snuck a peek at the crowd. Of all the people looking, he knew none of them personally. The 'blonde girl' however waited for him at the counter. He recognized her as vice-president of an overly devoted fan-club. Which was not as cool as it sounded.

"I'm not here." He said. "If anyone asks for me, I'm not here today." The man shrugged and left them alone.

"So we're just going to wait for them to storm the counter?" Valerie asked, giving him a hard stare. Danny frowned.

"Well if I could make them leave me alone, I would. It's not my fault some smart-ass with a YouTube account outed me to the whole world."

"See that's funny, because I seem to remember watching video of _you_ explaining the _whole thing_!"

He left early and conspicuously, hoping that might alleviate the crowd. He swept into Sam's bookstore, but she had a fair amount of Phans on her hands too. Showing up wasn't going to make it any easier for her. Tucker was busy and Dani was scarce. He wasn't terribly excited with the idea of returning home just yet either- things had become terribly icy at FentonWorks. But the ghost zone had not seemed to change.

He was spending a lot more time in his lair now that he was being followed around town on a daily basis. His territory in the ghost zone was expanding as the land of the dead became more accustomed to his presence. Certain ghosts considered it a refuge now, and he had a fair following. Only the ghosts didn't mob like fangirls or hold up signs like earthly protestors. He was starting to appreciate their sedate directness that characterized most ghosts.

He 'googled' himself again, for the countless time that week, and was less than happy to see even more articles, posts, and videos than before. He was now considered a 'celebrity' and stumbled upon fanfiction of himself. In other words, life as he knew it was crumbling. Not just for Fenton, but Phantom as well. And he hadn't yet decided how he was going to deal with it.

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Phantom returned to the restaurant early, to check on the robots while they were functioning. He'd already had to make another repair earlier that week, and he was running out of parts. The robots were on stage, as usual, but the crowd was on the outside rather than the inside.

Protestors had shut them down again, and this time they were less than peaceful. A group of men and women, a little older than the gangs Phantom was used to seeing crowded the entrance. They carried signs reading: 'where are our children?' and 'murderers'. The glass was smeared with handprints and red paint.

Phantom watched the full parking lot invisibly from just inside. The staff inside huddled in the kitchen, afraid of staying after closing, and just as afraid of going outside. The protestors had painted accusations across the windows and doors in red. The cleaning staff refused to go within view from the windows, and on stage, quiet, still, and calm his friends waited for the children to arrive.

"Frank, it's almost time to close, and I'm not staying one second after closing. Just open the doors and let us out." One young woman, overly thin and unnaturally blonde sat on the front counter by the register and looked sternly at the balding night manager. 'Frank' wiped at his forehead with his sleeve.

"No one's going out there until the cops get here." Frank said. But he glanced nervously to the stage anyway. "They'll be here soon, and then we can all get out of here. Don't worry about closing anything… corporate says we're going to be closed tomorrow anyway. So let's just hang tight and we can all sleep in tomorrow." His words carried through the whole restaurant, and Phantom could feel the spirit's disappointment. His life was not so tied up in the pizzeria as theirs was.

Still attached to the suits, they remained behind when he was able to move around. They could come when he called, and he was always able to reach them, but as long as the suits remained- so did his collection. The walls and machinery were steeped with them.

But they were also steeped with good memories, along with the bad. Phantom remembered his own horror, and the horror of those that came to join him, but he also remembered the other children. Little ones that smiled and laughed- that returned over and over again. Some even came back with their own children. Not everything had been lost. And when the lights were on and children laughed and smiled, they allowed themselves to forget about the pain.

He'd stalked night guards that didn't deserve what they got. Men and women who had done no harm to himself or his friends- and he justified it. But children were sacred, and there was no justification for harming a child.

Bonnie, Chica, Freddy, and Foxy were sad, and he was sad for them.

He checked on Foxy, on found Pirate's Cove cordoned off. Foxy was still behind his curtain, but standing a little off center with a few more tears in his fabric skin. Apparently he was getting plenty of attention too. FredBear was in a slightly better way- though still locked up. He stood on his own now. Danny replaced the pins that had kept him immobile. The bolt was far too stripped and the joint it went to so locked up he couldn't replace it. Phantom hung it around his neck on a string instead. He didn't want to forget.

Save for the protestors and fearful staff huddling in the kitchen, everything was ready to go and where it should be. He decided not to show himself, and waited for the staff to clear the building, and his friends to start moving.

However, come eleven o'clock it seemed that they were all settling in for the long haul. Frank was still on the phone with corporate, sweating more and more each minute, and the rest of the staff- three women and another man were growing more and more anxious. The crowd outside the doors had not only not disbursed, but was growing larger.

It was both a clever and cruel plan. The crowd, despite the vandalism had remained peaceful yet threatening enough that the staff didn't want to leave. With their folding chairs and painted signs they had made themselves right at home, preparing to wait out the staff inside. The company might have been able to cover up the random disappearances of an occasional night guard- but when the entire closing staff got a taste of their own medicine, then it was going to be real hard to put a lid on the whole thing.

Phantom had never tried to hold back the entire collection at the same time before. He could keep them finishing the game, he could direct their movements when he needed to. But to tell them all to stop entirely. Certainly he could, if he had to. But it seemed cruel. They waited for a very long time for their six hours of freedom.

With any luck he wouldn't have to change the rules of the game. The cops would show up just in time, break it all up and everyone would get the day off. The collection would have control of the restaurant for a few hours and they'd be back to normal in a week or two after it all died down. Phantom just had to make sure that he didn't do anything to keep the spectacle stirred up. Once it was frustrating, but now corporate's ability to keep things quiet was what he was counting on.

"Well, we're stuck." Frank said, shuffling from the office with a grim look. "Corporate says to stay put. The cops should be here any minute and then we'll be able to get out of here." They all craned their necks around the corner to glance at the stage, where the animatronics had naturally not moved.

"I'm sure it's all just some kind of weird urban legend." The other man said, but he did not sound convinced. The women rolled their eyes at him and Frank loosened his tie.

At eleven thirty it was getting rather serious. Frank called corporate several times, but they were not returning his calls. The other employees were getting skittish and one woman was just barely holding back tears. The protest had escalated to a riot. News vans parked themselves outside. Phantom left the robots long enough to assess the situation outside.

It was a tailgate party outside the restaurant. In the warm air people were sleeping in lawn chairs despite the noise. The outside of the restaurant had been defaced with red paint. People crowded, yelling in shifts. A woman with a bullhorn led their rhythmic cries of 'we want our kids back'. Reporters stood in front of cameras with very serious looks, interviewing protestors or setting up shots for live feed. He recognized a local weather man interviewing an older couple.

"We had a wonderful time, right up until we were about to leave. We called for her for hours, but Dorothy never came back." The woman was crying, but her husband was holding together. A man beside her gave them both a sympathetic look.

"I lost my brother too." He said. "He came for a job. He was really excited about finally getting back on his feet. Three days later we couldn't get ahold of him anymore. We haven't seen him since, and I know they know what happened to him."

The place was a mad house, and Phantom hovered invisibly over them to scan the crowd. Surely with a gathering so large the police would have shown up without even a call… He scanned the crowd for the boys in blue and what he found did not encourage him. They had come, but led by none other than Sergeant Clarence D. Booker who was making a point to be as visible as possible.

"We recommend that the employees of the pizzeria sit tight while we resolve this issue." He said to reporters. "So far these people have been demonstrating peacefully. Their permit expires at midnight. Until then they are well within their rights."

So that was the plan. Srgt. Booker was pretty clever. With all the news coverage anything strange happening would happen on live television. Once the proof was out there the company would have no choice but to come clean.

He could feel the collective emotion swirl all around him. Their indignation, entirely justified and righteous fueled them. He wandered through undetected. The young and old gathered under the parking lot lights and waved their signs at traffic.

 _Where are our children?_

 _No more cover-ups!_

 _Danny Phantom killed my son!_

That one was the hardest.

"I hate to think of what happened to him- what he must have felt. He was only seven years old."

"He tried to tell us that something was wrong, but we didn't believe him. And now he's gone."

"We miss her so much. She was our whole life. My son had to grow up without his little sister."

"I still don't know what happened to my bid sister. She left for work and that was it. They said that she never showed up that night- but I don't believe it for a second. Not anymore."

"I can't believe it. We used to think Danny Phantom was our hero. But after all this happened, I can't believe we were so stupid."

"He's a monster- he just finally showed us all what he really was."

"We knew it all along. He's nothing more than an evil ghost."

The voices floated all around him. It was all familiar- his mother and father had said the same things to him a few days ago. It was all said in anger, but they meant what they said. These people all around him meant what they said too. He didn't blame the Booker's for wanting answers and being angry. Terry deserved his fate, but his family probably didn't deserve their loss. He looked around at all the men and women. He knew their children. They were all waiting there in the restaurant.

He called to the collection and felt them stir all around him. Dorothy found her family, and told Phantom all about them. He remembered Dorothy- he had watched her end. She cried and clung to his empty suit until her murderer pulled her away from him. If he had been able to reach out and save her, he would have.

Dylan found his mother among the crowd. She was quiet, but she waved her sign like the rest with a hard and strong resolve. She was a single mother, a hard worker, and a determined personality. She never stopped looking for Dylan, and he never stopped believing that Mommy was still out there waiting for him. He'd died before his mother even knew he was missing. Phantom had felt it, but by then had not been able to see.

Chris was a night guard and recovering addict. He lasted four nights before he lost power. He played the game very well- and was not bitter when he joined them. He loved the children. He found his brother and whispered all about him. He had thought his family had all given up by now.

There was a lot of sadness in swirling over the restaurant. A sadness that he knew quite a bit about himself. Perhaps it was the clock striking midnight. Perhaps it was Mary whispering in his ear. Perhaps it was the memory of little Dorothy clinging to his still suit while she died- but he didn't care much about the publicity anymore. They were waving their signs and shouting their mantras through bullhorns but it changed absolutely nothing. Maybe they lost their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. But he gained friends of his own. Their loss was his gain. It may not be the paradise that they had wished for their loved ones- but it was no longer hell either. He made sure that they were happy here with him.

Mary loved attention- and with news cameras all around and a large audience she was excited. Phantom knew that he should hold her back- nothing that happened in front of cameras would be good for them. But the children were happy to see what was left of their families. The spirits, stirring to life in the pizzeria whispered in his ears.

 _Are there children outside?_

 _Who is in our kitchen?_

 _So much noise out there…_

 _Wake up! It's time to play the game…_

Phantom returned to the restaurant just in time to prevent disaster. The suits were already moving toward the kitchen where the staff huddled in fear. Mary, invisibly, giggled and let her tinkling music box tune float down the hallway. One of the women had already begun to cry, and Frank was sweating hard enough to shrivel up.

"That's enough." He said, appearing in the kitchen just as Foxy dashed across the dining room to the kitchen. Most of the staff shrieked at the sound of his voice. The animatronics, closing in, stopped where they stood. For a moment they all just looked at each other.

The night manager and his staff huddling close together between the pizza oven and a prep table, the four robots in a wide circle around them, and Phantom standing between them. They had avoided the windows and the cameras- but here were five witnesses that surely understood now what was happening around them. Eventually they would walk out of here and tell those cameras what had happened the moment the clock read twelve am.

"We aren't going to hurt you." Phantom said, very calmly. The staff glanced at the robots, at Phantom's long claws and exposed jaws. Mary whispered again, and he knew that she was right.

They were afraid of him; they would always be afraid of him. Maybe what the world needed wasn't teddy bears and lullabies. Maybe the world just needed a healthy dose of terror.

They wanted their kids back?

Well, they hadn't really gone anywhere.

For a moment the two opposing sides stood there, staring at each other and a distinct crossroads became painfully clear to Danny Phantom. Something about changing not just for himself but in the eyes of others. Something about secrets that couldn't be kept forever and choosing between the ones he volunteered and the ones that slipped away from him.

Maybe the mistake had been not in spilling his guts, as Clockwork recommended, but not being willing to change himself in the eyes of the public. Because now the change had come, and he was no longer in control of it. The Danny Phantom that Amity Park knew would feel hurt and slink away to hide until his image could be restored.

But that image would be a lie- and he'd probably never get it back. The part of him that once resided in that yellow suit really disliked the thought of losing that control to whomever decided to take it away from him. Right now a very bald man who sweat too much had more control over his life than he did.

Mary was right, and so was Clockwork. He would feel much better once he introduced himself. Phantom reached over and touched Bonnie, his intangible claws tugging the spirit out of the suit. The robot darkened and slumped, and the spirit was free. Bonnie's true visage peered back at them- half deranged rabbit and half exposed mechanics- but entirely terrifying. He touched each of the robots and pulled the spirits out one by one. The abandoned suits remained still and inert, but the spirits circled slowly; bared metal teeth glinting and eyes glowing.

"That's enough." Phantom said again, and all eyes snapped back to him. Freddy huge and lumbering rubbed against him like a large cat, begging for attention. Phantom scratched him under his chin, and the spirit growled his appreciation.

"I think we'll play a different game tonight." They shook themselves and made grumbling noises as he sent them their instructions, specifically directions not to harm the employees. "By the look of things out there, you're in for the long haul tonight." Danny said. The huddling workers stared at him unsure if they should feel fear or relief. "They won't hurt you, you know."

"What are those things?" Frank managed to squeak quietly.

"Our friends. You know them- Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy." Foxy was hobbling closer, his hook- hand tapping on the tile floor of the kitchen as he sniffed at Frank and the others. They stiffened as he leaned closer, looking very much like the fox he was supposed to be. "I told you, they won't hurt you. You can come out here with us if you want, or you can hide in here- it's up to you. But they aren't going to hurt you as long as I tell them not to." Phantom didn't wait for them to respond, he turned and stalked away, the spirits following him with one or two curious glances back to their visitors.

It was time for some real fun- something new. Mary giggled in his ear and he let her materialize. She sat herself very gently on his shoulder and let him carry her to the dining area, where the windows were filled with protestors, even in the dimly lit parking lot.

The ghosts in his collection had never really had the chance to act like the ghosts of the ghost zone. They communicated only because they were connected through the collection. They materialized rarely and separately, if at all, and many did not have to power to do so on their own. But his continued time in the ghost zone had made them all stronger, and had given them the same capabilities as the ghosts Danny was used to dealing with. It was a good chance for them to get used to using it now. They didn't have to huddled and hide. Maybe they weren't truly free of the restaurant- but they certainly were free enough to have a little social interaction once and a while.

A lot of people were going to be very mad about what he was about to do- but at least he wouldn't be hiding it anymore.

Mary leaned close and whispered in his ear. A few people outside had noticed the movement as Phantom sat himself one the stage, Mary on his shoulder. She crossed her little legs, the white

A lot of people were going to be very mad about what he was about to do- but at least he wouldn't be hiding it anymore.

Mary leaned close and whispered in his ear. A few people outside had noticed the movement as Phantom sat himself one the stage, Mary on his shoulder. She crossed her little legs, the white tulle under her black dress spilling over his shoulder. She kept a little hand on his head, and smiled wide. She thought it was the perfect time for a party. She waved at the growing crowd, her rich blonde ringlet curls bouncing by her ears. The cameras started flashing, and Phantom knew there wasn't any going back now.

"I think a party sounds like a great idea." He said and Mary giggled. She leaned over and kissed the top of his head, then hopped off his shoulder and cartwheeled down the aisle. Phantom called to the spirits and they filtered into the dining area amid the gasping of the protestors outside and the flashing of their cameras. Mary cuddled Foxy's long nose as the crowd looked on.

He stood on the precipice once more- he could see the plummet, but not the landing beneath. He had stood there before and would again. Mary turned and winked at him. Phantom took the plunge and launched over the edge.

The music began over the P.A system- shaking the windows and turning heads in the parking lot. A sad, orchestral melody. Phantom opened up and let the entire collection pour out into the restaurant. The protest turned riot through the flash of cameras and press of faces against the glass.

 _Don't mind the noise outside the door,_

 _It's just_ The Phantom _, nothing more._ Mary took a theatrical bow for the crowd. The children lined up to wave and smile- a few recognizing family and friends.

 _No need to give yourself a scare,_

 _When you glance and no one's there._ The adults stood behind the children- waving sadly to those who were looking for them.

Dorothy's mother screamed and pounded on the glass. Dylan's siblings stood beside her and wept. But neither child looked unhappy.

 _It's not your fault, I felt this rage._

 _Just a child, about your age._

 _But something drives me to this place, I can see him in your face._

 _You'll never know the Hell I've seen._ No one asked to be any closer to their family. No one asked to speak to them, no one asked for a message to be passed. They knew better than he did that their old lives were a phase long since gone. The interaction with it was only a novelty. And Phantom felt it too.

Eternity was a lot longer than a lifetime.

 _Don't fight what's coming,_

 _We can't fight back the urge inside_

 _It's dark and you're afraid of the devils that come out at night._ The spirits romped happily among the ghosts like excited dogs. And even those whose lives were ended by them, were not afraid.

They had their own private party, and the living were not invited. Mary pulled him into the fray, put her tiny heels on his clawed feet and insisted he dance with her.

 _Let's make this easy,_

 _Soon you'll haunt these beasts you've hated_

 _No need for sleep tonight-_

 _Sweet dreams are overrated._ He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but ignored it- Phantom had a good idea of what it was going to say, but even if he regretted his decision, it was far too late now. Mary danced with some of the night guards, who regarded her with careful smiles. Danny knew he could trust her to win over anyone. A man he remembered blubbering like a child at the sight of the marionette now swung her in his arms happily. He swept Dorothy up when he came to him, though her mother still pounded on the window. The girl didn't seem to notice how upset she was.

He took turns with each of the children, patting them on the head, or holding them up above the throng of the collection to see the crowd better. He remembered when they were added to his collection- and he had been there to comfort each of them when they came. The children were his friends, and it was time that the living world understood that they were inextricable. The quagmire of souls lost and taken had become something that they could not pry apart. Perhaps it was not what they wanted for their loved ones. Once, he would have called it Hell- but it was his hell, their hell. The time had come for them to stop playing by the rules of the living, and start playing by their own.

He'd fully realize his decision after the fun was over.

 _I'm just a whisper, in the void_

 _No one's there, you're paranoid._

 _I'm just a trick of your own mind,_

 _Blink your eyes once and you'll find_

 _I'm just a ghost inside your head._ His phone was going crazy, and he didn't care. The cameras were live, the show had begun, and Mary cartwheeled and tumbled for her audience.

 _Don't fight what's coming,_

 _We can't fight back the urge inside_

 _It's dark and you're afraid of the devils that come out at night._

 _Let's make this easy,_

 _Soon you'll haunt these beasts you've hated_

 _No need for sleep tonight-_

 _Sweet dreams are overrated._ He let the adults move up to the window as the children played among themselves and with the spirits. They looked for their families with more interest than the children, but they did not ask to get any closer either. They had just a little more trouble letting go- but Freddy, the lumbering spirit rubbed against them like a fat housecat for attention. They were no longer at odds. The whole collection was a cohesive unit now. Almost, anyway.

Terrence Booker kept himself separate. He had taken him like the others, but the memories had not faded just yet- he was still new after all. Like a select few, Phantom was reluctant to let him close to the children. Part of the collection or not- evil had a way of tainting the things it touched. With the rest of the night guards getting close, he did the same. It didn't take long for the Booker's to catch sight of their lost son, and for hell to break loose outside the doors.

 _You can't wake, from this dream_

 _No one can hear you screaming_

 _So hold on for the ride, I'll take you with me tonight_

 _This nightmare, this prison, inside these suits we live in_

 _Don't fear me, together, we'll have sweet dreams forever._

Phantom hit the landing hard, not quite prepared for the immediate repercussions of his actions. Someone screamed from the kitchen, and glass shattered. He smelled the smoke, but didn't see the fire right away. The smoke, however, filled up the restaurant quickly, scattering the crowd. The employees escaped almost immediately after the parking lot was cleared, and the chaos of the night was suddenly plummeted into an eerie silence.

He knew that it would happen. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he would face this decision, and soon. He just hadn't known it would be so soon, and by his own doing. The restaurant was burning down.

Mary flew into his arms and whispered to him. The children gathered around and pleaded with him to save it. Their home, their prison, the last thing in the living world that held them here. And his own flash of panic said the same.

FredBear- he had to save the suit.

He let to collection disappear. It would be easier without their help. He hopped quickly to the parts and services room, and tore the lock off the cabinet, swinging it open violently. The smoke was filling the room, but he didn't notice. The sprinklers were engaged, but he didn't care. He reached for the suit and the nagging thought he'd tried to ignore returned.

It was time to let it go. He condemned them all- including himself to this prison so long as the building stood. So long as the suits existed. The collection would never be free until it was all destroyed. It was the last one left, and the only thing that kept them from achieving their potential, the only thing that kept them trapped. He was a ghost- and this was how he was made a ghost- but he was still human too. That part of him could see it clearly still. And it was time that he let go.

Phantom grasped at the stripped bolt suspended from a string around his neck. He'd never forget. None of them would. But as much as he needed to show himself to the world tonight, he also needed to free himself. This had always been the plan. It just hadn't been his plan.

It hurt, to tear himself away. But the time had come. The building was empty, no one would get hurt, and it was a better time than any. He teleported out and watched the smoke fill up the building. He watched the flames grow even under the spray of the sprinklers, and the windows shatter from the heat. His home was inside. He'd spent years inside the familiar suit. It was his friend, his shelter.

FredBear burned, and Phantom cried.


End file.
